Bioscopewala Movie Review

Bioscopewala Story: Based on Rabindranath Tagore’s famous short story 'Kabuliwala', the film is about a young girl’s quest to discover more about her dead father’s friend who used to play bioscope shows for her as a kid.

Bioscopewala Review: Estranged from her photographer father Robi Basu (Adil Hussain), Mini (Gitanjali Thapa) has to travel back to Kolkota from France where she is studying, to collect her father’s remains after his airplane meets with a freak crash. Turns out, he was traveling to Afghanistan for reasons unknown to her. What comes as another shock to her is the fact that her father has obtained custody of an old friend of his, the bioscopewala Rehmat Khan (Danny Denzongpa) who has a dark past that is left to Mini to uncover if she cares to.

Debutant filmmaker Deb Medhekar has quite skilfully adapted Tagore’s classic story for the screen. He has weaved an emotionally rich spectacle in the form of Bioscopewala about the bond between fathers and daughters. The relationships in the film; be it between Mini and Robi or between Mini and Rehmat, evolve over the course of the film and don’t seem forced at all. Deb has fused together several interesting themes which are backed up with a thoroughly enjoyable background score and strong performances. Danny Denzongpa gives a perfectly nuanced performance as the kind Pathan who years for his daughter whom he has left back home. Gitanjali Thapa, too, nails her part and has given a credible performance. The track 'Bioscopewala', penned by Gulzar and sung by K Mohan, fits in beautifully in the film.

At one hour and 31 minutes, the film doesn’t waiver much and wraps up the loose ends perfectly. One hopes that the filmmakers had paid more attention to the back story of Rehmat Khan, which is infinitely more interesting than Mini’s own tale. Still, there’s plenty to take away from this emotionally charged story about relationships.

In-depth Analysis

Our overall critic’s rating is not an average of the sub scores below.

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